Hello:

I just found out yesterday that I wasn't alone! Today I found this
group. It is reassuring and a little bit spooky that someone else
has this phobia.

I am very afraid of butterflies and moths. This stems back to a
childhood experience I had with two very large cecropia moths.


As a young person I had several experiences where butterflies
actually chased me. That may sound strange, but when you run forty
or fifty yards flat out and turn around to see the butterfly you were
running from, RIGHT IN YOUR face...!

Remarkably enough, the guy I found on the net last night had also
been chased as a child.

Now for the fanciful speculation....I think that there are some shapes
that some humans have an innate fear response to, when they encounter
it.

The shape and design of butterfly wings in combination with what are
often, remarkable colors I think might beone of those. I can thinkof
a few others. Any one have any thoughts on this?




--- In unusualphobias@yahoogroups.com, "Emily Glowacki"
<dimethyl_mercury@s...> wrote:
> Message: 6
> Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 10:11:03 -0000
> From: "m_hare2000" <harem@l...>
> Subject: Hello
>
> I think the phobia I have been associated with is really unusual
> and
> so far I havn't been able to find any information on it. Actually
> I
> don't have this phobia myself, however a close member of my family
> does. It is an unusually strong fear of butterflies. The common
> house fly dosn't cause any of the panic attacks and even some
> moths
> are tolerated, but she becomes extremely frightened if a butterfly
> evens comes close. So, does anyone have any information or know
> anyone who has this same phobia?
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Hi, I'm new here. Name's Emily, I'm in college in Alaska. I just
> wanted to say a couple things.
> One, when I was younger, I did have a phobia of butterflies. It
> was because of the way they flew, all crazy and jittery. I
> thought they were possessed. Also, it freaked me out (and still
> does) when they are sitting down and slowly opening and closing
> their wings. Yikes!
>
> But I have bigger, stronger phobias. Probably the strongest one
> is my fear of rainbows. I couldn't find the name of it anywhere,
> so I propose to call it "IRIDOPHOBIA." I begin to hyperventilate,
> and I just basically panick. I have screamed and cried before
> when the sight of a rainbow has caught me offguard. Worse than
> regular rainbows are halos. See my webpage for a picture I made
> of an actual "halo" I saw last year in about late March/early
> April: http://www.geocities.com/inverse_monk/me2.html
>
> Well that's all I have time for, but remind me later to explain
> how my phobia of rainbows includes the Aurora Borealis too! Hmm,
> maybe it isn't smart for me to live here in Alaska!
>
> Love, Emily
>
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